WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

This is an annual bag of goodies.

Highlight #1: retail stores are closing at record pace while Amazon opens stores. This is such a huge trend because it transforms stores from a mini-warehouse into something else: a destination for experience, service, and training. Think Apple store with the highest sales per square foot, genius bar, classes and a showroom. Amazon has pushed its Amazon GO, no lines, no registers concept and it is rolling it out slowly. This is just the beginning...

I wrote about this in the past numerous times and it is great to see HBR and others recognize this important trend: companies are sitting on huge amounts of information they can use to extract meaningful information and share it with their clients and employees to attract and retain them.

For example, look at jawbone and how they do it

• http://fmcs.digital/blog/what-one-million-people-sleep-patterns-tell-us/ 
• http://fmcs.digital/blog/proof-sleep-happiness-jawbone-analyzes-56m/
• http://fmcs.digital/blog/bedtime-stories-learning-from-sleep-data-from/ 
• http://fmcs.digital/blog/how-did-the-napa-earthquake-affect-sleep/ 

Perfect Sunday morning reading which is guaranteed to make you reflect and ponder for the next weeks. The article is a typical New Yorker one, very well researched and written. So captivating that it got me to start reading the book which appears to be as captivating and surprisingly easy to read and understand. I love those finds and have the feeling this book will be the best complement to "Singularity is Near" and "On Intelligence" that I wrote about in the past.

- book "singularity is near": http://fmcs.digital/blog/singularity-is-near-an-essential-read-to-understand-why-technology-evolves-so-fast/ 

- book "on intelligence": http://fmcs.digital/blog/on-intelligence-mustread-to-understand-frontal-cortex-architecture-what-makes-us-intelligent/ 

- article "Why the future does not need us": http://fmcs.digital/blog/why-the-future-doesnt-need-us-a-reminder-that-ai-may-have-a-bad-side-via-wired/ 

- related posts: http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-transformation-of-businesses/?tag=Singularity+is+Near 

Babies are inherently fragile and require attention. It is natural for parents to want to monitor and stay connected with them. Technology is the most natural way to provide solutions for parents that increasingly want to stay connected even when they are away. This has become a huge area for developments and improvements, as evidenced by the large number of startups at CES this year. Must watch for the future.

Also read in french: 

CES la mdoe du tout connecté pour bébés au CES 2017

http://www.lapresse.ca/techno/201701/09/01-5057758-ces-la-mode-du-tout-connecte-pour-bebe.php 

Below are some articles that describe AmazonGO technology in more detail, including a video animation. As you can see, we know very little and everyone is guessing at this time based on patent filing and an article from a consultant now hired by Amazon.

• 2013 detailed report by Brittain Ladd, ex-consultant now Amazon employee, that may be the source of some of the concepts behind Amazon GO: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beautiful-way-save-woolworths-brittain-ladd 
• Amazon 2015 patents that supports the GO store technology: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=(Steven.IN.+AND+Kessel.IN.)&OS=IN/Steven+and+IN/Kessel&RS=(IN/Steven+AND+IN/Kessel) and older one http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=%22DETECTING+ITEM+INTERACTION+AND+MOVEMENT%22&OS=%22DETECTING+ITEM+INTERACTION+AND+MOVEMENT%22&RS=%22DETECTING+ITEM+INTERACTION+AND+MOVEMENT%22 
• Very good analysis - in french - of what we know and some interesting tidbits about how Amazon may use it in the future: http://www.le-furet-du-retail.com/2016/12/amazon-go-comment-cela-marche-technologiquement-ce-que-l-on-sait-du-systeme-just-walk-out.html 
• Amazon GO website announcement and video: https://www.amazon.com/go 
• 2015 recode article that unveiled the concept a year ago - but went under my radar: http://www.recode.net/2015/3/30/11560904/we-may-have-just-uncovered-amazons-vision-for-a-new-kind-of-retail 

Various other articles:

• http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/6/13856158/how-amazon-go-stores-work-patent
• http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/139650-what-is-amazon-go-and-how-does-it-work
• http://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/2016/12/07/how-amazon-go-work/95111660/

Apple has filed a patent that describes a network to link to the various electronic devices we wear.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Our body will soon become the center of a digital network, connecting the devices and sensors we wear but also I assume the ones we will have implanted in our heart, brain, muscles, etc. Much like the enterprise and the car have needed a network to enable and make communications seamless, this has the same potential.

Excellent paper examines the legal issues that companies can face when implementing voluntary or mandatory wellness programs in their organizations. Goes further by suggesting ways to prevent litigation.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

We wear all kind of devices that track our behaviour and can help us get in shape and improve our well being. The more these devices become accessible and cheap and the more companies realize that they benefit from having healthy employees, the more we will see a pressure to include such devices and services. Questions and solutions raised here should thus be part of every digital strategic plan.